Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2011 - 27

of global tree utilization.
There are additional assumptions about wood and trees
that deserve discussion. A common instinct is to view the
burning of wood as harmful for the environment. Since there
is no other all-natural 100%-renewable energy source, wood
is a favorable fuel in the eyes of the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). The EPA views burning wood as fuel as carbon
neutral, and certification is available from the agency for
high-efficiency wood-burning stoves. This is because trees
naturally "filter" carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air through
photosynthesis, where the CO2 is converted to sugars as a
building block for tree fibers. The carbon embodied within tree
fibers is converted back to CO2 only when the tree is left to rot
or is burnt. To complete the cycle of filtering CO2 out of the
air, the carbon embodied in the fiber of trees is permanently
removed from the atmosphere only when the tree is cut down
(Moore 2010). In fact, cutting down a tree is the only natural
way to permanently remove carbon from the air. This does not
support the irresponsible cutting down of trees. But, cutting
down trees sensibly is not bad for the environment and is, in
fact, a critical step in sustainable forestry.
Modern forestry management and logging methods
adhere closely to national and international forestry initiatives.
Loggers receive precise instructions on what to cut-how
many trees and what kind-and what to leave alone. Called a
harvest prescription, these selective harvests choose trees of
lower quality, and mature trees are cut only when they decline
in health (Leavell 2001, 105). A carefully devised prescription
is one of the principals of forest stewardship, but this process
is also one of the chief contributors to the diminishing quality
of lumber in the past thirty to forty years. When more trees are
planted, the result is a renewable resource that provides more
fuel, more construction material, and more pulp for global
needs. No other single resource, including steel, aluminum, or
plastics, provides all of these benefits.
Tree growth and planting exceeds harvests in all areas of
North America, and the net annual growth rate of commercial
forests exceeds both the prescribed harvest and losses due to
natural events (insects, fire, and disease) by 27% (Leavell 2001,
61). And about 70% of the original forest coverage in the United
States still exists today. This is an astonishingly high percentage,
especially when compared to most European countries which
retain 15% or less. This discussion of American forestry and the
sustainable use of trees only touches on some of the common
misconceptions about wood construction material for scenery.

strike Up the sustainability

n the end, strike may be the most important aspect of
material usage in stage scenery today. The extensive use of
adhesives and the predominant use of pneumatic fasteners in
modern scenery construction have a negative impact on salvaging materials for reuse. If strike is an important aspect of

this discussion, then sustainable scenery is a labor issue. Salvaging material from scenery during strike is a labor intensive
process. To study strike, a new project has recently begun at
Indiana University that will observe and document strike operations at numerous venues. There are commonly held assumptions regarding the strike process, yet the topic is not covered
in most stagecraft texts. Hopefully this investigation of overall
operations will uncover methods to expedite the salvage process and develop additional recommendations for sustainable
scenery. Until the entire life cycle of stage scenery is deconstructed, from tree sapling to strike, the story of sustainable
scenery is unfinished.

sustainability at Bemidji state University

Early initiatives

emidji State University has three signature themes
that guide both service and curriculum: environmental stewardship is chief among them. The campus-wide commitment is
so strong that the students voted in 2008 to increase their activity
fee to include a green fee that funds the salary of a staff sustainability officer. The theatre program's initial goal was to improve
health and safety practices. These improvements supported efforts toward sustainability and linked the two initiatives
BSU's two full-time theatre faculty members agreed to a
philosophical change in production. The conceptualization process for each show is still respected, and each show has a specific design that supports the style and content of the material.
Instead of approaching every show design as a stand-alone event,
however, the staff looks for ways to support the production while
embracing the environmental principles of Reduce, Reuse, and
Recycle. This perspective is now a part of the curriculum in academic courses as well as those that include practical production
experience. It has only taken one semester for the students to
embrace this philosophy and put it into practice themselves.

he first step was culling existing inventory so everything
that was stored could be kept in useable condition and be easily
found. The decades-long philosophy of "You never know when
you can use this" and a laudable sense of frugality had led to the
practice of accepting any kind of donation of clothing and salvaging construction materials of unknown origin and integrity. Like
most other facilities, the BSU theatre program has limited storage
space. Trying to keep everything made it almost impossible for
the scene and costume shops to meet the general housekeeping
standards articulated in OSHA standards or NFPA codes for fire
safety. It also meant many items were soiled or damaged in storage or were simply impossible to find when they might be useful
in a production.
While it can be difficult to convince people that the goal of
greening the production program requires removing many items

spring 2011

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